The RFP adds a note specifying that the report “shall clearly indicate these analyses presume that a constitutional amendment has passed authorizing such activity.”

Lawmakers hope to avoid constitutional amendment

Addabbo and Assemblyman Gary Pretlow prefer to expand New York sports betting offerings next year without the potential three-year delay of seeking a constitutional amendment.

Sports wagering already is permitted in New York at upstate commercial and tribal casinos following a 2013 referendum and rules issued by the commission in June.

Addabbo and Pretlow contend that the commercial casinos’ approval extends to taking online bets through servers housed at their facilities. That could include partnering with affiliates (sports facilities, OTBs) to place online betting kiosks in their locations.

As budget discussions began last time around, Cuomo discounted the fiscal impact of the money New York was missing out on without mobile sports betting. Addabbo couldn’t change his mind, but the senator hopes a study can.

“If the study is done correctly, it should be a useful tool as we prepare for the budget process and negotiations start in January,” Addabbo said.

“Fourth quarters, people have less expendable money for gaming with the holidays and end of the year,” Addabbo said. “Even with those numbers, I’m hoping the study is done correctly, and the numbers are credible.”

To that end, Addabbo indicated that he had asked all of the state’s industry stakeholders to reach out to the commission and provide their data to the study.

Dates to know for the NY sports betting study

The commission is pushing for a quick turnaround on the study to have the results ready to inform the next legislative session. After the commission chooses the company to conduct the study Aug. 12, work on the study is set to begin Sept.1.

The first draft is due Nov. 29, with the final report turned in before the champagne comes out on New Year’s Eve.

Written by

Matthew Kredell

Matthew started his career as a sportswriter at the Los Angeles Daily News, where he covered the NFL, Kobe-Shaq three-peat, Pete Carroll’s USC football teams, USC basketball, pro tennis, Kings hockey and fulfilled his childhood dream of sitting in the Dodgers’ dugout. His reporting on efforts to legalize sports betting began in 2010, when Playboy Magazine flew him to Prague to hang out with Calvin Ayre and show how the NFL was pushing US money overseas by fighting expansion of regulated sports betting across the country. A USC journalism alum, Matt also has written on a variety of topics for Men’s Journal, Los Angeles magazine, LA Weekly and ESPN.com.